Differentiating the concept of teacher efficacy for academic achievement, classroom management and discipline, and enhancement of social relations
Abstract
The questions examined in this study reflected a multidimensional concept of teacher efficacy that extended the construct beyond the domain of academic achievement and included the domains of classroom management/discipline and social skills enhancement. A 25-item multidomain teacher efficacy instrument was assembled to measure teacher efficacy for the school domains of academic achievement, management/discipline, and student social relations. This study also examined the relationship between teacher efficacy for each of these three domains and teacher perceptions of their ability to correct or resolve problems in the respective domains. Three hundred twelve elementary level teachers who taught in the New York City metropolitan area were asked to provide demographic information and complete a teacher questionnaire. The first part of the questionnaire was a series of vignettes used to examine teachers' perceptions of how easy or difficult it would be to resolve problems representing the domains of academic achievement, management/discipline, and student social relations. The second part of the questionnaire consisted of a 25-item scale measuring teacher efficacy in 3 school domains. Factor analytic procedures were used to identify the distinctiveness of the efficacy items. Three factors representing the different school domains were identified but with moderate correlations among the factors. A confirmatory factor analysis also showed that all the factor loadings were statistically significant but with high correlations between the factors. The results suggested a hierarchical factor structure with 1 general and 3 related lower order factors. Pearson correlation coefficients between the 3 teaching efficacy domains and the 6 behavior vignettes were calculated to investigate whether teacher efficacy in each of the domains was related to teachers' perceptions of problems in the same domains as being easy or difficult to resolve. For the domain of discipline and management as well as the domain of social skills enhancement, the teacher efficacy subscales were found to be correlated with teachers' perceptions regarding ability to change student behavior in the same school domain. However, for the domain of academic achievement the results were inconclusive. The results of this study support the theory that teacher efficacy beliefs vary for different teacher activities or domains of school functioning. Efficacy subscales such as the ones used in this study were appropriate for elementary teachers and could be used in studies or teacher training programs to help increase understanding of efficacy beliefs and how these beliefs affect daily practice.
Subject Area
Teacher education|School administration
Recommended Citation
Reilly, Joan Cecile, "Differentiating the concept of teacher efficacy for academic achievement, classroom management and discipline, and enhancement of social relations" (2002). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI3040402.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI3040402
